Oppo A83: Initial Impression and Hands on Review

Telecell Pvt. Ltd, the official distributor of Oppo smartphones in Nepal, launched their latest mid-tier smartphone, the Oppo A83 just a few days ago. The phone packed some great specs, a lustrous design, an AI-powered selfie camera, and a brand new Facial recognition biometric option. And now, we have the phone here at our office! We have had it for about two days and we will share our experience of using it with you guys. So it the A83 worth the buy? Should you pay Rs 24,990 for the phone? Well, let’s take a deeper look at the device and find the answers for ourselves.

The Oppo A83 came in this white box with a sleeve that had all the graphics in it. Removing the sleeve and popping open the lid, you are immediately greeted by the phone itself. Under it, is another box with all the literature, sim ejector tool, and a transparent plastic case. Moving those aside, you have three compartments with your standard micro USB cable, a pair of headphones, and a cuboid looking charger.

On initial impressions, the Oppo A83 looks good with a lightweight feel in the hands. Though the phone claims to be made out of metal, I felt a rather plastic(y) build. Like many smartphone OEM’s, Oppo has gone the route of coating a plastic body with a metal finish to give that premium look. To be honest, I am not a big fan of it! That said, what I am a big fan of is the 5.7-inch HD FullView Display with an 18:9 bezel-less design. Watching a random video and playing a Clash Royal dual was an enjoyable experience. This inclusion has taken the multi-media consuming perception to another level. Though I wish, Oppo has included a Full HD display instead of the 720p panel that the phone comes with.

Under the hood, the Oppo A83 packs an octa-core MediaTek MT6763T Helio P23 processor backed by 3GB of RAM. This combo, at least on the first boot, was able to handle almost everything that I threw at it. Browsing Facebook, uploading a picture on Instagram, surfing the internet, and watching some Youtube videos was no problem for the phone. Moving on, at the software front, the phone runs Color OS 3.2 based on Android 7.1 Nougat. The UI experience was good and I feel Oppo has come a long way from its days of the past. I noticed a lot of cool features like split-screen multitasking, twin apps, and a plethora of screen gestures. That said, the iconography is getting pretty stale and I wish Oppo would implement a UI overhaul. **cough*looks like IOS*cough**

And now, let’s talk about the thing you all are here for- the selfie camera! The A83 packs a f/2.2 8MP front camera backed A.I. smart beauty technology. The selfies, to be honest, were phenomenal with great details and vibrancy. The low-light pictures, with the limited selfies I took, were great with a negligible amount of grain and distortion. That said, I still need to test the selfie camera to its full capacity. More on that in the full in-depth review!

The phone also has a f/2.2 13MP rear camera accompanied by an LED flash. I will refrain from talking about the rear camera as I didn’t have much time testing it out. A full portion will be the dedicated towards the camera in our full review. So stay tuned for that!

The Oppo A83, just like a fruit company we all know, completely skipped the fingerprint scanner in favor of a facial unlock. Though I would have appreciated it if they had included both the sensors, the onboard biometric option works very well. I was easily able to unlock the phone with just a glance! Not only is the Face unlock fast but fairly accurate too. And finally, powering the device all up is a 3180mAh non-user removable battery. The battery life of the phone was decent in my two days of usage. I got somewhere around 4-5hrs of on-screen time with my medium to heavy usage. The phone, however, lacks any fast charging capabilities making it a pain in the touche! Expect the phone to be plugged in for almost 2-3hrs before you get a 100% charge.

Early Verdict:

The Oppo A83 looks to be a decent mid-tier smartphone that has some unique features to showcase. A near bezel-less design, an AI-powered selfie camera, and a Facial recognition biometrics are all great offers to make. It definitely gives it an edge over its competitors! That said, on the initial survey, the phone falls short in areas like the build, display resolution, and a lack of a fingerprint scanner. Nonetheless, the phone is still a great option for anyone looking to buy a mid-tier smartphone under Rs 25,000 here in Nepal. But is it the best in the price segment? Well, we will answer that question and give you our verdict in our Full In-depth review. Stay tuned for that!

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The Oppo A83 is a great mid-tier smartphone that has a lot to offer like a near bezel-less design, an AI-powered selfie camera, and a Facial recognition biometrics. That said, hold on the purchase decision of the phone until our full in-depth review.